





2 


OCIATION OF INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA 





JOHN HERRON ART INSTITUTE 





TEN PRIMITIVES 


- 


E. ROBERTS 


PAINTINGS 


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| 








ART ASSOCIATION OF INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA 
THE JOHN HERRON ART INSTITUTE 


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Ay ws ye 
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TEN PRIMITIVES 
IN THE 
JAMES E. ROBERTS 
COLLECTION OF 
PAINTINGS 





Copyrighted June Nineteen Hundred and * 
Art Association of Indianapoli 


CATALOGUE OF TEN PRIMITIVES FROM 
Bie JAMES E. ROBERTS COLLECTION 


A group of “primitive” paintings stirs one’s imagination. They remind 
us of beautiful churches, of painted ceilings, walls, and altars, of sunny 
Italy, of Flanders, and of Germany, and of the early efforts of the 
painter, and of Europe’s place in the field of art in the fifteenth and 
sixteenth centuries. Early pictures were painted directly on the walls of 
buildings. Churches, chapels, altars, public halls and civic buildings 
were thus embellished. Panel pictures, like the ones in this collection, 
followed later. They were popular during a period of highly religious 
thought, and Biblical scenes, therefore, held the attention of the artist, 
who painted diligently and executed large and small orders with equal 
facility. The public, a picture loving populace, used the painted picture 
in somewhat the same way that the public uses the printed book today. 
Printing was hardly invented, but the European world was experiencing 
an intellectual development, and it was the artist who served it and he 
served it well, but in a field wholly religious. 

Each one of the ten paintings comprising the collection at the present 
time has a freshness that leads one to forget their age. Though five 
hundred years have come and gone, they have merely mellowed and 
grown old. The artistic quality and the aesthetic charm have not 
diminished, and the naiveté of old world conventions only adds to that 
charm and quality. Those old world conventions were highly sensitized 
with realism, but were handled conservatively, and when richly imbued 
with color made pictures that glowed and vibrated in tune with the times 
which they represent. They mark an important epoch in painting and 
no collection is complete, therefore, without a few typical examples. 

On May 22, 1923, a sum of money was given to the Art Association 
of Indianapolis, Indiana, through the will of James E. Roberts, which 
made possible the purchase of these primitive paintings. There are ten 
of them and they form the first of a collection of paintings to be known 
as The James E. Roberts Collection. They represent the early painting 
of Germany, Italy, Holland, and Flanders of the fourteenth, fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries. ‘The permanent collection of paintings of the 
Association has been, up to this time, composed of modern paintings ; 
hence this addition has made possible a rounding out of the collection 
by supplying this phase of art which is becoming more and more difficult 
to obtain. 


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CATALOGUE 


BARNABA CRUCIFIXION 
BARNABA DA MODENA [BOLOGNESE SCHOOL | 


Christ is shown on the Cross and at His right and left are the two 
thieves. Above one thief are two angels in golden-yellow robes trans- 
porting his soul to heaven, and above the other are two black demons 
transporting his soul to Hell. The Christ, clothed in a white loin cloth, 
has a golden halo with a geometric design on it, tooled into the panel 
with a punch. Above the cross is a red sign bearing the letters INRI 
(Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum—Jesus of Nazareth King of the 
Jews). Kneeling at the foot of the Cross is Mary Magdalen dressed in 
a red robe. She also has a golden halo. At the left is the Virgin, sup- 
ported and comforted by four other women. She is dressed in a dark 
blue mantle bordered with a gold stripe, and she has a gold halo. Two 
of the women, perhaps Mary the Mother of James and John, and St. 
Veronica, have golden halos similar to that of the Virgin. Mary, at the 
left, is dressed in a pink mantle and St. Veronica, at the right, in a 
green mantle. The other two are probably holy women who followed 
the procession. The one in the foreground holding the Virgin’s hand is 
dressed in a yellow mantle, and the one behind the group has a rose 
colored mantle. St. John, nearby, rests his head upon his hand. His 
mantle is red, and a green under garment shows at the neck and sleeves. 
At the base of the Cross at the left are three men, one of whom is 
undoubtedly Joseph of Arimathea. In the middle ground are two men 
on white horses. The one at the right is an important official dressed in 
a blue coat elaborately embroidered in gold and wearing a red hat with 
a white upturned brim. The one at the left is a centurion dressed in a 
red coat, embroidered in gold, and a brown helmet-like cap. Another 
soldier, on a brown horse, is partly hidden from view. He is dressed in 
a green coat and brown cap. At the left of these horsemen are spearmen 
carrying shields and dressed in short blue and red tunics and tight-fitting 
red and gray-green trousers. At the right are other soldiers bearing a 
red banner on which is an inscription in gold letters. In the middle 
foreground is a young man with a pot of vinegar and the long rod on 
which the sponge was passed to Christ. On the right is a group of 
soldiers discussing the division of Christ’s garments, and behind them 
are three old men, probably Pharisees. The panel is painted in full color 
against a gold background and the inner moldings of the frame appear 
to be an integral part of the panel. 





Saint Blasius by Bicci di Lorenzo |Italian, fifteenth 
century | 


Painted wood panel HEIGHT 41 inches; WIDTH 26% inches 
Formerly in the Lazzaroni and the Nicolle Collections 


BARNABA DA MODENA was born in Modena between 1335 and 1340, and in 1364 he 
was working as a painter in Genoa, where he is known tc have lived as late as 1380. 
He executed work in Modena and Pisa as well. 


BICC] SE BLUASIUS 
BICCI DI LORENZO [FLORENTINE SCHOOL | 


St. Blasius is shown seated in a Bishop’s chair. He has a curly gray 
beard and is dressed in a red mantle lined with blue which is decorated 
with a gold border and embroidered with gold lozenge motifs. His 
right arm ig raised, disclosing a full white under robe gathered at the 
waist. White straps, decorated with Greek crosses in black, cross the 
chest and are tucked in at the belt. He holds in his left hand a crozier 
and a wool-comber’s card, and on his left knee a book bound in black. 
Around his neck is a gold collar and pendant with a floral pattern tooled 
with a punch. The pendant is decorated with a painting of Christ 
against a black quatrefoil and lozenge ground. On his head is a gold, 
white and red mitre, and behind his head a gold nimbus decorated with 
a punched pattern similar to that of the collar. Below is the inscription 
»CS BLASIUS EPISCOPUS EMARITUS. 


St. Blasius was a Bishop at Sebaste in Armenia. He has been adopted 
by the wool-combers as their patron saint, perhaps because it is said that 
he was tortured during his martyrdom with a wool-comber’s card. 


Painted wood panel HEIGHT 66%4 inches; wiDTH 32% inches 


BICCI DI LORENZO was both painter and sculptcr. He came of a family of painters 
and was the son of Lorenzo di Bicci. He was born in 1373, probably at Arezzo, and 
was registered in the Guild of Painters at Florence in 1424. He spent some time, 
as did all painters of his generation, in the decoration of churches. He worked 
chiefly, however, in the vicinity of Florence. He died in 1452 at Florence and was 
buried in the Carmine Chapel. Between the years 1420 and 1450 he painted dili- 
gently, but little of his work is extant, or may be confused with the work of others. 
In the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, a typical example of his work may be seen in the 
picture “SS. Cosimo and Damian,” and over the door of the hospital of Sant’ Egido, 
Florence, is a terracotta group by him representing the Coronation of the Virgin. 
This group, though sometimes attributed to Dello Delli, is probably by Bicci, and is 
typical of his work in sculpture. Our example is typical of his work, with two 
outstanding characteristics, sobriety of color and subject, and careful drawing. 





Madonna by Jacopo del Sellaio [Italian, fifteenth century | 


SELLAIO MADONNA ADORING 

JACOPO DEL SELLAIO [TUSCAN SCHOOL | 
The Madonna, dressed in a red robe, with white showing at the neck and 
sleeves, and a dark blue mantle, lined with brown and edged with gold 
embroidery, with a gold star on her shoulder, kneels in adoration of the 
Child who lies with outstretched arms before her. Her hair is ruddy 
gold and above her head is a nimbus composed of gold dots. Falling 
from her shoulders is a long transparent white veil. From the body of 
the Child radiates a golden aureole. In the background is a formal 
landscape. At the left, in the middle distance, is St. John carrying a 
staff which terminates in a Cross. He wears his garment made of 
camel’s hair and over his shoulders is a red mantle. A golden nimbus 
is above his head. In the distance is the sea with blue promontories jut- 
ting out into it, and above to the left is a golden star showing in a 
blue sky. 


Painted wood panel HEIGHT 32 inches; WIDTH 2034 inches 
Formerly in the collection of Baron Lazzaroni, Rome. 


JACOPO DEL SELLAIO was a follower of Fra Filippo Lippi, but practically nothing is 
known of his life. 


BOLTS, SCHOOL OF LbeGE NDS OF 6 T.s;AMES 
SCHOOL OF DIERICK BOUTS [FLEMISH SCHOOL about 1473] 


The polytych is made up of twelve painted panels depicting episodes 
from the life and tradition of St. James the Great. The panels are en- 
closed in an original wooden frame hinged to form a triptych. The 
wings to the right and left each have four panels, two on the front and 
two on the back, and in the centre are four more. The frame is a gold 
one decorated on the front with a shell motif, symbol of the pilgrim, and 
with pilgrims’ staves and wallets. The keyhole ornaments of the old 
locks still remain. 


St. James the Great was one of the twelve apostles. According to the 
legend, after the death of Christ he preached in Judea and later went to 
Spain where he founded the Christian faith. Fle returned to Judea but 
is said to have been buried in Spain. About Soo A. D. the place of his 
burial was revealed and his body removed to Compostella. He became 
the patron saint of Spain, and Compostella a place of pilgrimage. 


eI pup ‘II ‘2 ‘I ‘SON aap asayy yom fo sjaupnd aajany ui pajndaq 
[Auiguas yguaajfy ‘sjnog ysiaaig fo Jooyss ‘ysiuay yz | {VIAL) AYJ SAUD “4S fo spurbaT 





Painted wood panels HEIGHT 32 inches overall; wiptTH 138 inches overall 
EACH PANEL is 2634 inches by 12% inches 


I. St. James, who is dressed in a green robe and red mantle with a 
pilgrim’s shell hat, holds in his left hand a pilgrim’s staff and in his lap 
a book. He sees Christ before him as in a vision. Christ is dressed in a 
gray-purple robe and has a decorated halo. In the background is a 
palace and formal trees. The color scheme is blue, green, pink and 
brown. 


This episode is probably reminiscent of the time when Christ is said to 
have appeared to St. James asking him to cross the sea into Spain. 


II. St. James, in green and red costume and pilgrim’s hat, is mounted 
on a white charger caparisoned in red and carries a red banner and an 
uplifted sword. The saint and his horse are the conspicuous parts of 
the picture, the rest being much subdued in color, although full of 
action. In the background in tones of blue are indistinct mountain crags, 
the sea, and a distant city. In the blue sky above, a Deity is represented, 
surrounded by a glory. 


The legend runs that King Ramirez, having vowed to deliver Castile 
from the tribute of one hundred virgins demanded annually by the 
Moors, charged the Moorish army on the plain of Clavijo. He was 
forced to retreat, but St. James appeared to him in a vision and urged 
him to return to battle. He did so and the Christians, with the aid of 
the Saint who suddenly appeared among them on a white charger, gained 
a victory. 


III. In the foreground a richly dressed man, in an embroidered coat 
and blue skirt and blue and white headdress, stands with St. James, 
whose red mantle and pilgrim’s hat can be seen beyond the man’s 
shoulders. They, together with a man in a white-bordered red robe and 
blue under garment, stand before a fire in which books are being burned. 
A servant in a tight-fitting blue jacket and red trousers brings more 
books to be burned. In the background St. James, in his red mantle and 
blue robe, may be seen visiting the rich man’s house. Demons are flying 
about the entrance. In the portico of the house the rich man is again 
seen, approached by demons, and in the room beyond a figure appears 
in bed holding a pilgrim’s staff. 


These four episodes illustrate the story of St. James and the magician 
Hermogenes. Hermogenes sent his disciple, Philetus, to compete in 


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[dungua2 yquaaif{yf ‘sqnog yIisaig [0 J00YI5 ‘ys, yg | yoatH) ay] sauvy 7g fo spuabaT 








miracles with St. James. The disciple, returning vanquished, announced 
to his master his intention of following the saint, whereupon the magi- 
cian, enraged, bound Philetus with spells so that he could not move 
from his bed. A servant appealed to St. James. The saint sent his staff 
to Philetus who was freed as soon as he touched it. Hermogenes. more 
furious than ever, sent demons to capture both St. James and Philetus, 
but the demons were seized by angels and punished. St. James then said 
to them, “Go back to him who sent ye, and bring him hither bound.” 
This they did and then sought St. James to deliver Hermogenes to them 
for vengeance. He, however, replied, “Christ hath commanded us to do 
good for evil.” Hermogenes, grateful for his deliverance, burned his 
books of magic and henceforth preached the doctrines of Christianity. 


IV. St. James, in a red mantle and blue robe, with pilgrim’s hat and 
staff, appears before a king who sits on his throne beneath a canopy of 
gold and brown brocade. The king wears a gold brocaded red robe with 
collar and underskirt of ermine. In his left hand he holds his sceptre 
and on his head he wears an ermine-faced blue hat decorated with a 
crownlike band of gold. A soldier in a yellow tunic, partly dressed in 
armor, with his helmet in his hand, stands beside St. James. Standing 
near the throne are two men, one with brown under garment and green 
mantle and red cap, wearing red leather shoes and carrying a cane, and 
the other with a white hat and blue garments. The floor is tiled in 
brown, blue, and white. ‘Through the windows St. James may be seen 
preaching to his followers, near a church, while immediately to the right 
he is seen being led into prison. 


These scenes undoubtedly refer to the anger of the Jews at the preaching 
of St. James, the imprisonment of the saint, and his appearance before 
the tribunal of Herod Agrippa. 


V. In the foreground is a queen dressed in an embroidered mantle of 
red and gold, bordered with ermine, and a blue robe with light blue at 
the neck and sleeves. Around her waist is a golden girdle and chain. 
Over her white headdress she wears a brown hoodlike cap with blue 
peaked crown, from which hangs a transparent white veil. Behind her is 
an attendant wearing a blue padded hat and a grayish garment. A king, 
at the right, is dressed in a gold embroidered red coat with ermine collar 
and cuffs and tight-fitting blue sleeves. In his left hand he carries a 
sceptre and a blue velvet bag. An ermine skirt shows below his coat. 
His blue hat is faced with ermine and decorated with a crownlike band 


OL pun ‘6 “9 ‘LZ *soN aap asay} yoiym fo sjaung aajan4 ur pajdaq 
[Aunguas yquaarf{y ‘synog yrisaigq. fo 1ooyIg “ysimapy | JVIAE) ay} sauvs “4g fo spuabaT 








of gold. In the courtyard oxen are bringing in a bier, which is no doubt 
that of St. James, as suggested by the red mantle and golden halo 
painted upon it. On the hillside beyond the courtyard wall is a scene in 
miniature of the beheading of St. James. The building to the right is a 
chapel in construction, perhaps reminiscent of the conversion of the 
queen. 


It is said that when St. James was beheaded his disciples, fearing to bury 
his body, placed it upon a ship which was miraculously conducted by 
angels to Spain. Landing at the port of Iria Flavia, they laid the body 
on a great stone which immediately became like wax, embedding the 
body within it. Queen Lupa, who reigned in that country, was dis- 
pleased and ordered the stone to be moved by wild bulls, thinking that 
they would drag it to destruction. But the wild bulls became docile and 
drew the stone, with the body of the saint, into the very court of the 
royal palace. When the Queen beheld this she became converted and 
built a church to receive the sacred remains. 


VI. The interior of a chapel dedicated to St. James is shown. Lying 
prone at the foot of the altar is the body of a young man dressed in a 
gray-blue coat over a tight-fitting red garment. Kneeling on the blue 
and white tiled floor in the attitude of adoration are pilgrims in dun 
colored garments and a haloed saint in a blue mantle and gold brocaded 
coat, wearing a crown on his right arm. 

The altar has a red and gold brocade hanging in front of it, and at the 
four corners are shafts supporting golden angels. St. James is seated 
above, apparently asleep, while two acolytes place a heavy crown on his 
head. Devotees surround the altar, and seated at the right is a man in a 
brown coat and hat with a sickle in his hand, perhaps significant of the 
belief that St. James, who performed the miracle of the sickle (shown 
in the eleventh and twelfth panels), will also be able to restore life to 
this young man. 


This panel, it seems, is a sequel to the ninth panel, which depicts the 
discovery of the body of the young man by the saint. 


VII. Two pilgrims, a man and a woman, kneel before an official. The 
man is dressed in a rose-red mantle and blue robe with a blue hoodlike 
collar and has a pilgrim’s hat and staff. "he woman has a blue gown 
with a gold girdle and a dark brown pilgrim’s hat over a white head- 
dress. The official, dressed in a yellow, brown, and gold embroidered 


coat, with fur collar and visored cap, carries in his left hand a long pike. 
Beyond them, through the open door of an inn, may be seen a woman 
in a red gown and white apron with her hands raised in amazement at 
the miracle of three fowls which have come to life. The brightly burn- 
ing fire of a spit shows in the darkness of the inn where the boy who 
turns the spit stands in amazement. At the left two people with pil- 
grims’ staves, one dressed in blue and the other dressed in yellow, stand 
in conversation at the entrance to a building. In the distance, in a 
miniature landscape, is a gibbet with a body hanging on it. Under it 
appears St. James, before whom two pilgrims stand in attitudes of 
astonishment. 


The scenes depicted in this panel and the next are significant of one of 
the legends of St. James. Two pilgrims, with their son, went on a pil- 
grimage to the.chapel of St. James at Compostella. On the way they 
lodged at aninn in Torlosa. The innkeeper’s daughter became enamored 
of the son, but he refused to respond to her allurements. To. avenge 
herself for this slight she concealed in his wallet her father’s silver cup. 
When the pilgrims had departed the father discovered his loss and sent 
in pursuit of them and accused them before the judge. The cup was 
found and the young man was condemned to be hung. The parents, who 
plead in vain for the release of their son, continued on their pilgrimage. 
As they returned some time later they stood lamenting beneath the gib- 
bet where their son hung, when the son said to them, “O my mother! O 
my father! do not lament for me, for I have never been in better cheer ; 
the blessed apostle James is at my side, sustaining me and filling me 
with celestial comfort and joy.” The parents hastened to relate the good 
news to the qudge, but he mocked them saying, “Your son is as little 
alive as these roasting fowls,” pointing to the fowls roasting on the spit. 
The fowls immediately flew from the spit, and the young man was re- 
leased from the gibbet and restored to his parents. 


VIII. In the foreground, before an inn, two pilgrims, a man and a 
woman, kneel before a jailer. The man is dressed in a rose-red mantle 
with a blue hoodlike collar. The woman has a blue mantle and white 
headdress, and both have pilgrims’ hats and staves. The jailer, dressed 
in a shirt of mail, a short blue coat, and red tights, grasps a young man 
by the wrist with his right hand while he holds behind him a bag con- 
taining a silver vessel. To the left stands an official in gold embroidered 
robe with fur collar and round brown cap. In the door of the inn stands 


a young woman dressed in blue gown with a white bertha and high 
yellow headdress, while through the window the three pilgrims may be 
seen seated at the inn table. In the upper story of the inn the three pil- 
grims may be seen sleeping, while the young woman secretes the cup in 
a bag. In the far distance the jailer and the pilgrims are seen again. 


This panel is a companion to the seventh panel and completes the story. 


IX. A saint, dressed in an elaborate coat of blue, yellow, and gold 
brocade, a mantle of blue lined with blue-green, and carrying a crown 
upon his right arm, ministers to a pilgrim who, with a halter around his 
neck, lies dying before him. The pilgrim wears a gray-blue coat, with a 
leather strap at the waist, over a tight-fitting red garment. The back- 
ground is a conventionalized landscape and in the middle distance may 
again be seen the saint, bearing the body of the pilgrim upon his 
shoulders to a distant city at the left. 


This panel ts related to the sixth panel, which shows the same saint and 
pilgrim in a chapel. 


X. A courtly group of people stands in attitudes of awe and amaze- 
ment to witness sacred vessels floating on the water to the foot of the 
steps around which they are congregated. The queen is dressed in a 
blue gown with tight-fitting basque, white collar and cuffs, vest, and 
hem, and a full skirt which she holds up, revealing a blue-gray skirt 
beneath. Her tight-fitting undersleeves are plum colored and on her 
head is a white scarf and a gold diadem. She wears a heavy gold neck- 
lace. The king is dressed in a richly brocaded cloak of blue, brown, and 
gold, with fur collar and cuffs and a fur hat surmounted by a gold 
crown. In his left hand he carries a sceptre. A saint in the foreground 
calls the attention of the king to the spectacle of the relics. He is 
dressed in a rich red mantle and tight-fitting gold brocaded sleeves. At 
his waist is a pilgrim’s wallet, and in his right hand he holds a round 
brown cap. A maid in waiting stands in the rear. She is dressed in a 
blue robe with red and white showing at the neck. On her head is a 
brown hoodlike cap with conical crown from which hangs a filmy white 
veil. A man with a red cap and blue coat, presumably a servant, stands 
in the doorway. At the extreme left the same group stands in attitudes 
of expectation. The background is an architectural setting, and in the 
doorway of one of the buildings is shown a traveler being welcomed 
home. 


XI. St. James, dressed in his blue robe and red mantle, with his pil- 
grim’s hat and staff and gold halo, speaks to a wounded pilgrim who is 
robed in short yellow tunic with brown undergarment and pilgrim’s hat. 
An angel, robed in white, appears before them. The background shows 
a valley with a roadway between formal trees leading to a city dimly 
shown in the distance. Above, in the sky, is depicted a Deity before 
whom St. James and the Virgin kneel, while an angel hovers in the 
background. The Deity is shown wearing a crown and dressed in a red 
mantle with a blue-white undergarment. The Virgin has a red robe 
and a white mantle. St. James has his blue robe and red mantle, and 
wears his pilgrim’s hat thrown back. The Deity is surrounded by a 
yellow glory, and the group is enveloped in fiery red clouds. 


This panel is the sequei of Number XII. The story is that of a palmer 
who received a pair of shoes from a demon in the guise of St. James. 
Asked by the disguised demon to take his life he does so, supposing that 
in this way he would honor the saint. He cuts his throat with a sickle. 
The true James implores the aid of Christ and Mary and then appears 
with an angel before the palmer, to whom life has been restored. 


XII. In the foreground is a demon dressed in a reddish robe and blue 
cap, beneath which his horns are visible. Claws also appear beneath the 
hem of his robe. He carries an armful of shoes and seems about to 
present a pair to a poor pilgrim, who is dressed in patched garments, 
wears a pilgrim’s hat, and is leaning upon a staff. In the middle distance 
the pilgrim is seen cutting his throat with a sickle. In the background 
is a landscape in blues and browns with two figures upon a hillside. 


This is the companion to the eleventh panel, and illustrates the first part 
of the story related above. 


GERMAN SCHOOL about 1480 VIRGINGAN D Git ED 


The Madonna, dressed in a blue over mantle and a dark blue robe with 
white showing at the neck, stands holding the Christ Child on her left 
arm. Her flowing red hair is surmounted by a gold crown which shows 
against a lighter gold nimbus. The Child, dressed in white, also has a 
gold nimbus. To the right the donatrix, who kneels in adoration, is 
dressed in red, and to the left the donor, wearing a gray-green smock, 





Virgin and Child with Donor and Donatrix [German, late fif- 
teenth century | 





Virgin and Child by 


teenth century | bi 
ut 





dark brown trousers and cap, also kneels. Four angels in white, one in 
each corner of the picture, uphold a rosary which encircles the Madonna. 
This rosary is composed of gold colored conventionalized flowers inter- 
spersed with five large flower rosettes, the top one of which has a large 
pierced heart superimposed upon it. Behind the Madonna is a green 
screenlike ground with two angels, also dressed in white but with deep 
blue shadows showing in the folds of their robes, appearing at the top. 
Their wings are white, backed with color, one with red and one with 
blue. The background of the picture is gold leaf. 


Painted wood panel HEIGHT 38% inches; WIDTH 233% inches 


The master who painted this picture is unknown, but it is unquestionably a German 
work of the late fifteenth century. It resembles the work of Geeraert van Haarlem. 


CATENA MADONNAVAN D CHILD 
VINCENZO DI BIAGIO, CALLED CATENA [VENETIAN SCHOOL } 


The Madonna, seated before a gray-green curtain, holds the child on her 
right knee with her arm encircling Him. She is dressed in a red robe 
with white showing at the neck and sleeves. Her over mantle is blue, 
lined with brown. On her head is a white covering folded in a wide 
knot across her breast. Both the Madonna and the Child have halos of a 
single gold line. 


Painted wood panel HEIGHT 30 inches; WIDTH 23% inches 


VINCENZO DI BIAGIO, CALLED CATENA, was ptobably born at Treviso about 1470. In 
1495 he had become well known in Venice as Vincenzo of Treviso, journeyman of 
the great Hall of Council. He was influenced by Giovanni Bellini and, to those who 
know the work of the Bellini, this influence is fully obvious. He was employed in 
the decoration of churches in Venice and also painted portraits and easel pictures. 
His will is dated 1531, and the date of his death is cited as December of that year. 


CORNELIUS ANNUN CIATION 
JACOB CORNELIUS VAN AMSTERDAM [DUTCH SCHOOL ] 


The delightful realism with which the beautiful hair of the Virgin and 
the curly hair of the angel have been painted, the naiveté of the multi- 
tude, and the attention to accurate detail, due, one may imagine, to his 
training in woodblock designing, are the keynotes of our painting. The 





Annunciation by Jacob Cornelius van Amsterdam | Dutch, sixteenth 
century | 


touch of gold at the left—the banner against the dark background— 
indicates a careful analysis of spots in the composition as a whole. 

The Madonna kneels on the steps before her altar, with her mantle of 
dark blue thrown back from her shoulders disclosing her red gown, 
with white showing at the neck and sleeves. Her hair is red and falls 
over both shoulders, and behind her head is a gold nimbus. An angel 
kneeling at the foot of the steps draws back one side of the green canopy 
which encloses the Virgin’s shrine. Against the green canopy appears 
the Dove encircled by a gold and red nimbus. The angel has curly red 
hair and wears a full robe of grayed plum color with white collar and 
flowing red ribbons. His partly folded wings are multi-colored. In his 
right hand he carries a staff bearing a gold banner on which is the 
inscription, “‘Ave Ora Pladus;” a red cross divides the inscription into 
four parts. In the background is a door, the upper half of which is open, 
disclosing a multitude of people with several cherubs flying above their 
heads. T’wo vessels may be seen upon a shelf at the left. The floor is 
laid with scroll patterned tiles in various colors, and on the steps of the 
sanctuary is thrown an elaborate plum colored brocade. 


Painted wood panel HEIGHT 24 inches; WIDTH 175% inches 


Illustrated in Steinbart, Die Tafelgemdalde des Jakob Cornelisz von 
Amsterdam, Pl. 13 


JACOB CORNELIUS VAN AMSTERDAM was born at Oost-Zaam in North Holland prob- 
ably between 1475 and 1480. He worked in Amsterdam in the sixteenth century and 
was probably the master of Jan Schoorl as well as of his own son, Dirk. He was not 
only a painter of history, portraits, and landscapes, but also a designer of woodcuts. 
He died in Amsterdam, probably between 1555 and 1560. 


CLEEF MADONNA AND CHILD 
JOOST VAN CLEEF [FLEMISH SCHOOL | 


The Madonna, dressed in a rose-colored mantle lined with fur and 
edged with gold embroidery, holds the sleeping Christ Child. Her dark 
blue under robe, also lined with fur, is turned back at the wrists exposing 
tight-fitting gold embroidered sleeves. Over her head is a long trans- 
parent white veil. In the background is a miniature landscape in blues, 
greens, and browns. At the left, also in miniature, is depicted the Flight 
into Egypt. 


Painted wood panel HEIGHT 19 inches; WIDTH 133% inches 





Virgin and Child by Joost van Cleef | Flemish, sixteenth century | 


JOOST VAN CLEEF was born in Antwerp and was most active between 1530 and 1550. 
He received his instruction in painting from his father, Willem van Cleef the Elder. 
For many years he was known as the “Master of the Death of the Virgin.” In 1554 
he went to England and was introduced to King Phillip by Antonio Moro. He is said 
to have visited Spain and France also. His works are chiefly altarpieces painted for 
churches in Flanders. 


GIOVANNI ST. JEROME 
GIOVANNI DI PIETRO, CALLED LO SPAGNA [| UMBRIAN SCHOOL | 


St. Jerome, with a red mantle wrapped around him, stands in the atti- 
tude of penitence. In the upper left hand corner are radiating golden 
rays. Behind him is the sea. A promontory, on which is a stone building, 
juts out into the sea. The color scheme of the landscape is yellow, 
green, blue, and brown. 


Painted wood panel HEIGHT 14% inches; WIDTH 105% inches 


GIOVANNI DI PIETRO, CALLED LO SPAGNA, was, as his name indicates, a Spaniard. 
Little is known of his life, and that only after he appears as an independent artist 
in Todi in 1507. He was, perhaps, the pupil of Perugino (to whom this painting was 
at one time attributed) and Pinturriccio and was associated with Raphael at Perugia. 
He eventually settled in Spoleto where he died about 1530. 


BENSON CRUCIFEESLON 
AMBROSIUS BENSON [FLEMISH SCHOOL | 


Christ is shown on the Cross between the two thieves. Above His head 
is the inscription INRI (Jesus Nazarenus Rex Judaeorum—Jesus of 
Nazareth King of the Jews). Mary Magdalen, who kneels weeping at 
the foot of the Cross, is dressed in a purplish robe with plum colored 
sleeves. Her red mantle has dropped from her shoulders. About her 
waist is a gold chain and on her head is a white ruffled headdress. The 
Virgin Mary, seated at the left, is supported by Mary the sister of the 
Virgin, weeping, and John, who looks up at the Christ. The Virgin 
wears a white headdress, a blue robe, and a purple-gray mantle em- 
bellished with gold at the sleeves. Mary, the sister, is dressed in a green 
mantle and a red robe with gray cuffs. Over her braided hair she wears 


a cap with a wide red band. John is dressed in a red robe and mantle. 
In the background is a formal landscape in blues, greens, and browns. 


Painted wood panel HEIGHT 26 inches; WIDTH 283% inches 
AMBROSIUS BENSON was probably born in North Italy. He worked in Bruges from 


1519 to 1550 and in 1519 was taken into the Guild of St. Luke. He was a follower 
of Gerard David, whose influence is seen in his work. 





Crucifixion by Ambrosius Benson | Flemish, sixteenth century | 





Saint Jerome by Giovanni di Pietro, called Lo Spagna [Italian, six- 
teenth century | 






























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"GETTY CENTER LIBRARY MAIN. 
N 577 R72 BKS 
£. 4 Indianapolis Museum 


Ten primitives in the James E. Roberts c 


-TIMNIIEAMII 


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